The general walked over and stood next to me. "You are going to have to tell me what you are referring to, Mr. Grange. At the moment, I don’t have a clue what you are saying."
I looked up. "General, our people, Humans, come from a galaxy called the Milky Way. We originated on a planet called Earth. Over a thousand years ago, our entire species, nearly four billion people, was snatched from our home and dropped onto five stations very similar to the one we have here today. Our ancestors called those stations Grids. My people, nearly eight hundred million at the time, occupied Grid number four. I believe that your people, now 720 million, inhabited the station we called Grid-1."
I continued, "Our little fleet of five stations was attacked by another species, and three of our Grids, along with their people, were destroyed and killed in the fighting. Grid-1 enabled their gravity drive and sped away in one direction, while my people on Grid-4 went in a separate direction. For a thousand years, we have not seen or heard from Grid-1. We thought you to be lost."
I continued to give the general a brief story about our beginnings, our fight in the Triangulum, and our current problem in the Saw Blade.
The general looked at me. "Mr. Grange, that is a fantastic story, but you don’t have any proof to back up what you say. If what you say is true, our current set of weapons will be wholly inadequate. Bludgeons and axes are not going to win us our freedom."
I shook my head. "You are correct, General. They won’t be enough. The Duke and his partners mean to have you fight against these other species with the weapons they have provided. Each of the species stuck in these sick games has been equipped with these same weapons. It looks like the gun turrets on this station are automated. Are there any transport ships aboard or warships?"
The general replied, "All of the bays are empty, Mr. Grange."
I placed my hand over my goatee and gently stroked it as I thought. "How much training have you been doing with the weapons you have, General?"
The colonel stepped up. "Sir, if I may answer."
The general nodded, and the colonel continued, "We have been training squads on the use of the bludgeons and axes for only a few weeks. There are huge stockpiles of these weapons aboard, so it was decided that we better figure out how to use them."
The general spoke. "Tell us about that suit you are wearing, Mr. Grange. Is that something we can make use of?"
I replied, "Wow, General, I don’t know the answer to that. On the one hand, it would certainly give you a huge advantage over anyone carrying those types of weapons, but I don’t know how we would manufacture them. Besides, I think that as soon as the Duke and his pals spot you, they would be stripped off, or, knowing the Duke, you might just be eliminated as a species."
I continued, "If I was you, I would gather together anyone who knows anything about using these types of weapons. If you are like our group, there are probably only a handful of you that know about those, probably hobbyists. Our ancestors made a huge effort to write down everything anyone could remember from before they came to be on the station. We called them the archives."
The general replied, "We have such an undertaking going on right now, Mr. Grange. I will send out word to bring anyone forward who knows about fighting with bludgeons and axes."
I nodded. "I would begin work on designing some type of armor to wear when fighting others with these weapons. I would guess the Duke supplied enough resources for you to make weapons and armor?"
The general stood and walked over to the touch-wall. After he touched a handful of icons, a set of iron forges appeared before us.
The general spoke. "Hmm. I could certainly get used to this technology. These forges have been running day and night. We found a large weapons cache along with them, but there wasn’t enough to outfit the number of people we have available to fight, so we fired up the forges and have been manufacturing more weapons. You have a good point with the armor. We have been so busy trying to get a grasp of what we are doing here in the first place that making armor had not occurred to us. We only have about twenty people working on those forges."
I replied, "Well, if I were you, General, I would gear everything your people are doing towards fighting a war, because that is why you were brought here. The better prepared you are for that war, the better chance you will have of surviving it."
I rose from the table. "General, I am sorry, but what all this has told me is that my people are out here somewhere also, going through the same thing you are. They will be needing my help too. I am going to have to leave, General. I will return when I am able. Until then, you are going to have to be the driver for your people, and you probably won’t be popular with your political types."
The general stepped over and held out his hand. "I will handle the politicos, Mr. Grange. And as far as being popular goes, I never was before. I was, however, respected, and with that I will do my best to make us ready for whatever we have coming."
I walked back to Alpha Bay and powered out to the still-open portal, heading back to the Duke’s complex. I would have to continue the search for my people from there.
Upon my return to the Duke’s complex, I began my search for the other set of Humans. I began a spiral search, working my way outward from the point where the other Humans had been found. After three days of hitting nothing but other species, I had a sudden thought of panic. What if the Duke was again somehow rebuilding his control room? I powered towards the Duke’s lair. As I passed through the final wall, I had a sigh of relief at the sight of the room still in shambles.
With nothing more to do, I returned to the search for my wife and the other Humans. After several days of failures, I stopped in a particular portal room and began to study the controls that lined the wall. I pressed buttons and turned dials in an attempt to control one of the portals that was currently open. A day’s worth of experimentation yielded few results.
I blinked in and sat down on the floor of the room, leaning against the wall behind me. I was frustrated. I couldn’t possibly search twenty billion portal rooms for my people. Even with my extended life, there would not be enough years to accomplish the daunting task before me. I needed help.
In a moment of brilliance, I rose and powered back to the fortified area around the Duke’s room. I set down next to an android that was standing still. It had no orders and was therefore left with nothing to do but remain where it had stood, in a semi-powered state, when the last directive had been given.
I recalled the worm program we had written to counter the Duke’s virus, and using the RF capability of my helmet, and our previous crack of the Colossuns’ communications, I uploaded the worm to the android standing before me. Several minutes passed before the android powered up from its standby state.
I gave it an order to raise its hand, and it complied. I ordered the android to turn around in a circle, and it again followed my direction. I then ordered the three-meter-tall machine to follow me to the nearest portal building, where I gave it direction to scan through the portals in the room and to inform me if Humans were found to be on the other side. The answer was no.
I ordered the android to repeat the pattern until all portals had been searched or the Humans were found. I then returned to the fortified area to find another android for my search purposes. After uploading the worm, I set a broadcast for all of the remaining androids and was soon rewarded with an army of more than a million searchers. The next order sent the androids flying off towards the outer area and the portal rooms.
With the searches well under way, I decided to further explore the complex. The Duke’s lair had taken up the top location of the complex, and I wondered what might be located at the bottommost point of the immense structure.
After nearly a day of flight, I came to an outer wall structure that was identical to the one at the top of the complex. I powered through a fortified area and drifted into another control room. The walls were empty except for a single display panel. After reading the labels on the controls, I shook my head. I swiped a holo-switch, and an indicator showed the outer sodium skin of the complex to be disabled.
I immediately attempted a hail of Frig over the comm. The return channel was silent. Frig was either dead or gone. I hoped he had taken the
Swift
towards the Saw Blade galaxy in an attempt to contact the Humans, the Humans from Grid-1. I then remembered our army of bots on the planet where we had constructed the containment structure for the black hole. If I could somehow make it there, I could build a ship. Using the BHD glove and its limited power would take months.
With no other avenues of getting back to my people open to me, I made my way to the closest portal building and continued with my searching. An hour into my efforts, I was rewarded with a hit on the Human Grid by one of the androids. The remaining searchers were ordered back to their prior inactive states as I powered my way towards the portal building in question.
When I arrived, I blinked in, scanned the portal for myself, and was excited by the data that was returned. I had found my Humans, and they were being housed on a different Grid, only fifteen light-years from our counterparts.
In my happiness, I had failed to notice the small indicator on my HUD that had switched back to active. The sodium skin of the complex had been enabled! I powered just outside the portal room and scanned the surrounding area. A large contingent of androids was heading my way. My attempts at broadcasting an order for them to return and power down went unheeded. I moved back into the portal room and found the dial that controlled the portal aperture.
Five seconds later, I was powering through the open portal on my way towards the Grid. I turned and fired several tungsten rounds through the opening, and it quickly closed behind me. I would not be going back, but the enemy was not coming through. I again landed in Alpha Bay and made my way into the main corridor.
I stopped the first passerby, a young man, to ask a question. "Where have the military set up?"
The young man answered, "They are down in Delta section like always."
I thanked the young man and made my way to the nearest transway and was soon three sections down.
A guard confronted me as I hopped off the last step. "Sorry, Sir, this is a restricted area! You will have to return to your section."
I asked the guard the same question I had asked on the other Grid. "Can you take me to see Colonel Harper or Admiral Zimmerman?"
The guard replied, "Sorry, Sir, unless you have a pass, you cannot go beyond this point."
I raised my hand. "Could you at least pass a message to them that Don Grange is here? I can wait."
The corporal spoke quietly over his comm. Several minutes later, a lieutenant rounded the corner.
The lieutenant spoke. "I'm sorry, Sir. The Colonel and the Admiral are busy men. If you have anything further, you may want to take it up with your section mayor."
I pulled my head back in consternation. "Did you tell them that Don Grange was here?"
The lieutenant shook his head. "They haven’t heard of a Don Grange, Sir. I’m sorry, you will have to leave now."
I looked at the lieutenant and then back at the corporal. "Have either of you heard of Don Grange?"
Both men shook their heads. I asked another question. "Colonel Harper is one of the commanding officers though, right?"
The lieutenant replied as he placed his hand on my shoulder in a prompt for me to leave, "I’m sorry, Sir. The Colonel is a busy man. As I suggested, you will need to take up any issues you have through your section mayor."
I turned and began to slowly walk back up the stairs. Was it possible? Had the Duke erased my existence from their memories? Had I been forgotten? I then got a sudden rush of panic. What of Ashley? Was she aboard? Had her memories of me been erased as well?
After rounding the first corner on the stairwell, I stopped and placed my helmet over my head. After locking the helmet, I blinked out and powered back down the stairs. I searched for twenty minutes before I found the Colonel in a conference room. He was going over troop numbers with a major.
I blinked in behind them. "Colonel Harper, may I have a word?"
The Colonel placed his hands on his hips while he continued to look at the touch-wall in front of him. "Sergeant! I asked to not be disturbed!"
Two sergeants entered the room behind me with poleaxes at the ready.
The Colonel turned around with an angry scowl. "What kind of security detail are you running, Sergeant!"
The sergeant replied, "My apologies, Colonel, but he didn’t come through the door, Sir! We were standing on either side of it!"
I raised my hand. "Colonel, we need to talk about the defense of this station. I have information that you will want to hear."
The Colonel nodded towards the two sergeants, who then turned their weapons towards me. I blinked out, powered two meters to the left, and then blinked in again. The sergeants and the Colonel slowly turned their heads in my direction.
I spoke. "Colonel, I am here to help. You need to listen to me, Sir. It will make the difference between us all surviving or being killed. You might ask Admiral Zimmerman and Admiral Chaulk to come in as well. And if you can find her, Ashley Grange also."
I cringed at the thought of seeing Ashley. What if she didn’t know me? What would I do? Should I even bring the subject up at this early stage? My head was swimming with thoughts. I had the sudden realization that I had been standing there in silence as the others stared.
I spoke. "Colonel, how long have you been on this station?"
The Colonel replied, "Several months. Do you have knowledge of how we got here?"
I offered a half smile. "I have all the information you could ever want, Colonel. I know where we Humans originated from, I know what we were doing for the past thousand years, and I know what we are doing here today. You better get yourself a chair, Colonel, because this is a long story."
I kept the critical talk to a minimum until the two Admirals arrived. For the remainder of the day, I told the Human story to the three men in the room. After talking about the Duke’s complex and how I had come through the portal to the Grid, I rested.
I leaned back in the chair with my arms crossed. "I came through and destroyed the portal room behind me. OK, who has questions?"
Zimmerman spoke. "That is a pretty fantastic tale you just laid out there for us, Mr. Grange. And it ties in well with many things I remember, but I have no memory of you."
I nodded. "I know it’s hard to take all that in at once. I struggled with just finding out how we had come to be in the Triangulum galaxy. I know this has got to be one level deeper for you gentlemen to absorb. And have a look at the weapons you have been given. Are you looking to fight another species with bludgeons and axes? That sounds like a bloody mess just waiting to happen, if you ask me. The Duke would probably be enjoying the maximum carnage that a war like that has to offer."
The Colonel leaned forward. "What would you propose we do, Mr. Grange? We are struggling to understand how this station works as it is. And we don’t have the machines or tools needed to build any other weapons. Frankly, I’ve been scratching my head to come up with something beside what we have."
I replied, "Colonel, can you bring Jon Touchstone in? And what happened with Ashley? Is she not on this station?"
The Colonel yelled at the doorway, "Sergeant! I want you to bring Dr. Touchstone in here, and what was the news on Ashley Grange?"
The sergeant replied, "Yes, Sir. We were unable to locate any Ashley Grange, Sir."
I planted my forehead in my palm. "Ashley Elizabeth, Sergeant. Sorry for the mix-up. You can probably find her in the SCore offices."
The sergeant nodded and turned to perform the tasks he had been given.
I turned back to the Colonel and the others. "I have weapon designs that we can get started on, Colonel. They will be significant upgrades from your bludgeons. When the doctor arrives, I will pass them through to the touch-wall over there, and he should be able to put together anything that will be needed to build them."
When Jon Touchstone entered the room, he eyed me curiously. "Colonel, you have something you are in need of?"
I stood. "Hi, Doc. I’m guessing you don’t remember me?"
Touchstone replied as he shook his head, "I don’t believe I have had the pleasure; you are…?"
I shook his hand and sat down. "I’m the guy who has been forgotten, Doc. I’m the answer man. I just passed on a story to the Colonel and Admirals about our history. And I uploaded a few weapons designs onto the touch-wall over there for you to look over. I know it may seem strange, Doc, but I have known you for a couple of years now, and the things I am about to tell you may seem far fetched, but they are real."
As I began to again tell the tale of Mankind, Ashley walked into the room. "Colonel, you requested my presence?"
The Colonel gestured to a chair. "You might want to sit down, Miss Elizabeth. Mr. Grange has an interesting story to tell. It will explain a lot to you as to why we are here. Oh, and I am certain from your reaction that you don’t remember him, but Mr. Grange says that the two of you were, are, married."
Ashley looked over at me. "OK, you have my attention at least. What is this all about?"
Over the next four hours, I told a condensed version of our history. "... and that is again how we came to be sitting at this table."
Ashley was the first to reply. "Mr. Grange, I find it interesting that everything you just said doesn’t come with a shred of evidence to back it up. Don’t get me wrong; it is very well told, and at the moment, none of it can be refuted. However, I remain a skeptic."
I replied, "As I expected you would. You like to make informed decisions, and that information needs to be backed up with facts. Am I right in that you have not been provided with a way off this station? You have no ships?"
The Colonel replied, "We are looking into constructing something as we speak, but it won’t be ready for months."
I looked at the Colonel. "I doubt they will let you complete anything, Colonel. My guess is they are waiting for you to train so that they can pit you against other species that are here. I would bet they have a planet they are preparing for battle now. You can probably expect a few incursions onto this station to prompt you into training harder. Each of the participants will be pushing their species to train, so that they get the best fight out of them when the time comes."
The Colonel replied, "What happens to the elderly and the children when the fight begins?"
I sighed. "I can only speculate, Colonel. In the end, we all die, so I would not put it past the Duke and the others to put everyone in the mix at once."
I looked around the room at the solemn faces that were looking back at me. My news had not been good news. I began to wonder if a different approach would have been better.
I spoke. "Look, Colonel. I can’t say for sure what is coming. All I can do is warn you of what I believe to be happening. Start training your troops, gear up for war. Elderly, infirm, kids, pregnant—it doesn’t matter, they all need to learn to fight with the weapons we have been given."